Check In for Easter 2013! Commissions, performances etc.

How much new life has come to your work since we checked in last? Share your successes and links to audio or video. People that posted in older threads recently feel free to post again here, some of us may have missed your successes!

New members, don't be shy. I believe that pride is very different from arrogance. Tell us what you are proud of, I for one want to be proud of you too!

Thanks for the encouragement to us all, Jack. I posted this in an older thread but since you asked... :-)

I'm very pleased to say I've had my first 'World Premier' in Seattle this past month for my piece "Mondnacht." I tried to post a Skydrive link to the video but it does not seem to be working so I'll just attach an mp3 file here.

It was sung by the Cascadian Chorale under the direction of Gary Cannon. I'm in the alto section and had the rare (and nerve-wracking) chance to be in for the rehearsal process. Many thanks to Gary and the Chorale for a beautiful interpretation. The whole experience was quite new and very positive for me :-)

I can vouch for the very successful premiere of Joy's Mondracht. I attended both performances by the Cascadian Chorale. Joy's piece was very beautifully sung and was well received. Congratulations, Joy!

Oh Mårten, that is some of the most beautiful music these ears have ever heard. You could not have written a piece that pulls at my heart strings more perfectly. You sir, are indeed shining brightly. Please share the text in Swedish or in English translation. Consider posting that to the showcase so I can promote it.

OK I couldn't wait: "The holy Spirit will rub your feet" is a great line. So much better in Swedish though.

In the course of this conversation, and as a DIRECT result of the composition showcase I've had another piece taken up by a group caled "Espressivo" in Florida. I haven't receieved the performance details but the order has been given and the invoice and score sent. I assume it's for this upcoming Christmas season. Yay!

The piece is called "Jesus." I arranged a completely a capella version of it last year an academy choir in Virginia under the direction of Michael Sandvik. It was performed last Christmas.

My new setting of "Victimae Paschali Laudes" for choir, organ, brass, and string quartet was premiered this morning at Church of the Little Flower, Bethesda, Maryland, with Caleb Wenzel conducting. Unfortunately I couldn't be there for the service - but many thanks to Caleb for commissioning me and performing the piece! I am eager to hear the recording!

It's very exciting to see and hear all of these accomplishments! Congrats to all!

I have a few exciting things to share as well. I had the pleasure of singing my "Lord's Prayer" with the La Crosse Chamber Chorale on a couple of concerts back in February. I was very pleased with the performance and will try to provide a link to the recording as soon as I get off my butt and actually rip the CD on to my computer :) There are a couple other performances of "Lord's Prayer" scheduled in various places over the next couple of months. The piece has done well so far!

Yesterday, I conducted a performance of my piece, "By His Stripes" with my church choir for our Easter service. I was missing four of my better singers to illness, so the performance wasn't as good as some of the rehearsals, but it was still nice to hear the piece sung.

My piece "Autumn" will be premiered by the Viterbo University (La Crosse, WI) Concert Choir on April 27th.

I recently finished scoring a short digital film for a friend who is in grad. school for digital/graphic media. I found the 'film scoring' process to be really fun and challenging. He seems to like the finished product, so I guess it all worked out well. I was nervous about how well my interpretation of his storyline/theme/mood would match with what he really had in mind.

This week I will be starting a new choral commission for the Nacoochee Presbyterian Church, who also will be performing my "Lord's Prayer."

If you're in or near Minneapolis this weekend, I'm taking part in Essentially Choral with Vocal Essence for the next few days. There will be a "reading Session" on Saturday, 10am-1pm, where all the pieces will be presented. My piece, "If Ever There Is," is part of the program. For more info, check out the link above... Thanks, Rich

A quick follow-up. Had a wonderful experience at Essentially Choral last weekend. 6 composers working on their pieces with Philip Brunelle & the 32 voice professional choir the Vocalessence Ensemble Singers, along wth guest conductor/composer Francisco Núñez. Rehearsals on Thursday & Friday evenings, one-one sessions to discuss the piece & possible approaches/edits, etc... informational sessions on grant writing and other topics, and a final reading session on Saturday. Great folks, a great program. I'm grateful to have been invited.

Congratulations to everyone on your continued successes! It's so wonderful to see a thriving community of composers as well as choirs that promote new music!

I was honored to attend the premiere of three new works commissioned by Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire in December. You can listen to recordings here.

I am also honored to share I was recently awarded the Raabe Prize for Excellence in Sacred Music Composition from the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians.

My work, Nada Te Turbe, will be performed by the National Lutheran Choir in Minnesota as well as at ALCM's national conference in Valparaiso, Indiana. See here for concert info.

New commissions include the Minnesota All-State Choir and the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay - both set to premiere in 2014.

I am also hard at work on a consortium commission for solo piano, chorus, and orchestra set to premiere in November at the National WWII Museum with the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans. The work, Dreams of the Fallen, is a setting of texts by Brian Turner - Iraq War veteran and acclaimed poet. You can read the featured article in the NY Times to learn more about this project. Other orchestras involved are the Dayton Philharmonic, Virginia Arts Festival, Rockford Symphony, and Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey.

I look forward to hearing more of your successes and being a part of this amazing community of composers!

A new men's group in TN called BealeCanto is premiering a new piece "We Made a Grave For Him" this weekend. It was commissioned to be a companion piece to an eariler piece of mine "And Her Smoke Rose Up Forever." A reecording of that can be found here.

Cantus just performed the middle-east premiere of a piece of mine called "Luceat Eis," which was commissioned for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. A recording is here.

This weekend The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists are performing my piece "A Worshipper and a Man" in their round of concerts. Here's a video of that one.

Last year I wrote for a consortium of advanced women's choirs, and the choir Lyran gave their premiere in Helsinki.

The Minnesota All-State Men's Choir premiered the piece I wrote for them called "Goodbye, Then," for TBB, clarinet and piano. Here's a recording.

I had a solo cello piece premiere in February. (What!! Cello music? We don't do that here...)

I also wrote for a consortium fo 26 young men's choirs from around the world, and they've been performing three pieces throughout the season. "Empty," "It's Not the Fact That I Will Die That I Mind," and "Go."

February also saw the premiere of a piece for double men's choir, a setting of Salve Regina. This was premiered in South Bend by the Notre Dame Glee Club and Cantus.

These days I'm working on a new a cappella piece for a high school men's choir festival in Tennessee, settling on the text for a piece for Eden Praire High School for SATB and piano, putting together a consortium of women's choirs to write for (anyone interested?), and the publishing company that I co-own is also putting together a consortium of young men's choirs for two new pieces by Dale Warland and Jocelyn Hagen.

Wow - what a lot of performances! Would you describe yourself as a full-time composer?

I just wanted to point out that the various links you have given to recordings and videos, etc don't seem to be working - although I'm using an iPad, and haven't checked this out on my desktop, which might make a difference.

Greetings from the UK, and best wishes for all your musical endeavours,

You left out the best part about Luceat Eis. It was commisioned by the family members of someone who was lost on 9/11! What an opportunity and responsibility to create something beautiful and lasting. Was that an unusual amount of pressure for you?

Tim, I have enjoyed getting to know your music throughout this past week. Would you mind sharing what your role is with Cantus? They are a wonderful choir, Id like to know more.

I have been considering somehow recognizing choirs that are composer friendly. This is just the start of an idea, but it may grow into an activity for our community. Directors take a chance when they commission new works, we had better find a way to show our gratitude to their directing boards.

Gordon, no I'm not a full-time composer. Just busy! My full time job is as a singer with Cantus. This is my 17th year in the group - it started back when we were students in college. I sing bass and do graphic design (publicity, CD packages, etc.) for the group.

"Luceat Eis" was unique because it was a private commission from a gentlemen who wanted to memorialize a friend he had lost that day. He funded it, Cantus agreed to at least premiere it, and then I wrote it. I got it done early enough that Cantus was able to read it through and know that it would be a good fit for that coming year's touring program. I did feel pressure to make sure that the commissioner liked it, and also I knew that I wanted it to be something that Cantus would find useful.

Cantus does a lot of new music, but there's not a huge part of our operating budget that is designated for commissions. We depend a lot on grant funding for those. We do have the luxury of having a couple guys in the group who write and arrange, so we're able to fill any holes in our programs that way. But that's a lot different than setting out to have a new piece created.

...I also had a fun "question and answer time" as the composer of "Who Has Heard the Music?" with delightful young singers during their rehearsal for an elementary choral festival recently in Chocolatetown, USA (Hershey, PA).

Chris Hutchings and Greg Bartholomew both composed works for my choir AppleChor as part of the porject Julia got started. I am so pleased that composers in our communtiy were willing to include my choir in their generosity. We rehearse seperately by section, sopranos on Tuesdays for 45 minutes and Altos on Wednesday for 45 minutes. 9 of the past 12 weeks have had one or both rehearsals disrupted due to weather or the trials of running a choir during the elementary school day.

Today we had our first combined rehearsal and it went extremely well. A choir that started the year unable to sing in harmony has grown and improved to a whole new level. This rehearsal is a huge weight off my shoulders. We will be recording the works for the composers and will put the videos up when ready.

Thanks to Chris and Greg and all who took part in the project. Did anyone else compsoe for the project and have their works successfully performed yet?